Chapter 1911 - Pursuit into Arabia!
Chapter 1911: Pursuit into Arabia!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Lord Prime Minister, you must be thorough in your discussions with His Majesty this time. The King of Foreign Lands and his men must not be wronged,” someone chided.
All the officials immediately turned their attention to Prime Minister Li Linfu.
No matter how poor the relationship was between Li Linfu and Wang Chong, they had to appear to get along well to the public.
“Naturally. This minister will give His Majesty a detailed account.”
Li Linfu beamed as he warmly replied.
But hidden under his sleeve, his fist clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
The Sage Emperor had not participated in this court session, but everyone knew that the news was certain to reach his ears.
The tranquil and gorgeous Taiji Palace seemed like a fairy court brought to the mortal realm.
“Your Majesty, a major victory in the northwest. The King of Foreign Lands won.”
With soft and light footsteps, Eunuch Gao walked out from the rear.
All was quiet in front of Taiji Palace. The supreme figure of the Great Tang, the Sage Emperor, was wearing a golden dragon robe and a faint smile as he watched over the bustling capital.
“Understood. We knew that he would win.”
The words were calm and indifferent, but the information conveyed was startling.
What level of trust was needed to entrust the lives of all the people in the Central Plains, himself included, to Wang Chong?
This point alone made Wang Chong the number one official of the Great Tang.
“In addition, news has come from the front that our army has already crossed the Cong Mountains and passed Samarkand, marching toward Khorasan and Arabian territory. There are worries in the court that if our army is too far away from our own territory, the interior will be undefended. If the other countries choose this moment to jointly attack us, the Great Tang will be at an extreme disadvantage,” Gao Lishi hesitantly said.
“Heh, let them be. At this time, We would like to see just who would dare to act recklessly in front of the Great Tang.”
The Sage Emperor placed his hands behind his back and chuckled, a despotic tone to his voice.
……
Rumble!
The sounds of fighting could be heard all along the road between Samarkand and Khorasan as tens of thousands of Tang cavalry continued their pursuit.
Wherever the army charged, chaos reigned and numerous Arab horsemen were cut down in pools of blood.
Creee!
A sharp cry came from above, and upon hearing this sound, all the Tang cavalry stopped.
A few moments later, a youthful figure escorted by several dozen elites began to approach at high speeds.
Whoosh!
Zhang Que dismounted, inspected a body next to him, and then quickly stood back up.
“What’s the situation?”
Zhang Que turned to a nearby Tang general.
“Today, we’ve killed about fifteen thousand Arabs. A significant number of Arab cavalry have fled in other directions rather than in the direction of Khorasan.
“As for that Arab Governor, Abu Muslim, he’s been doing his best to gather the army. We estimate that he has two hundred and fifty thousand to three hundred thousand soldiers. Should we continue to pursue?”
The Tang general left his remaining words unsaid.
The King of Foreign Lands, the Nine Provinces Protector-General, Wang Chong, had ordered long ago that the army was to stop the moment they heard the cry of an eagle.
This process of fighting and stopping had already taken place numerous times.
They should have been able to kill even more Arab cavalry, but they had been forced to let them go at the end.
“There’s no need. Let them go!”
Zhang Que waved his hand and immediately rejected the request.
“His Highness has already defeated Khatabah’s army of two million, six hundred thousand soldiers. All that’s left is a stray dog in Abu Muslim and his three hundred thousand Arab horsemen on their last breath. They can’t cause much trouble.
“His Highness has ordered that there is to be no risky advance for the sake of achievements. Our first priority is to minimize our losses while killing as many of the enemy as we can. At the end, when His Highness personally takes action, it doesn’t matter how many soldiers the enemy has. They still will not be able to escape.”
After a few moments of silence, the mounted general bowed and sternly nodded.
“Yes! This officer will obey!”
The King of Foreign Lands would never make a mistake with his orders. Moreover, just as the King of Foreign Lands had said, the main army had been defeated, and the remaining several hundred thousand soldiers would not be able to cause much of a stir.
The army rested and reconsolidated as it waited for new orders. A few moments later, the earth rumbled as a wave of dust rose up from the horizon.
A banner depicting nine dragons stood out in this wave of dust. In front of this nine dragon banner was a handsome youth surrounded by a storm of energy.
“Paying respects to the Nine Provinces Protector-General!”
Upon seeing Wang Chong, the tens of thousands of Tang soldiers dismounted and reverentially bowed.
Although Wang Chong was the King of Foreign Lands, on the battlefield, he was the supreme Nine Provinces Protector-General, his status above that of all other Great Generals.
“How is it?”a young voice thunderously said from the distance.
In the blink of an eye and a sharp neigh, Wang Chong rode up to Zhang Que’s group on the White-hoofed Shadow.
Wang Chong had been through countless hellish battlegrounds, from the southwest all the way to this war of annihilation in the northwest, so despite bearing a youthful appearance, he exuded a firm and battle-hardened aura.
His every movement naturally exuded the demeanor of a supreme commander who led a grand army.
This solemn aura was something that not even Wang Zhongsi, the previous War God, could compare to.
After defeating Khatabah and the High Priest, Wang Chong was almost unconsciously regarded as the leader by all of the others, even illustrious Protector-Generals like Zhangchou Jianqiong, Gao Xianzhi, and An Sishun.
“Your Highness, just as you predicted, Abu Muslim has successfully fled to Khorasan. In addition, we’ve learned that once the Arabian Empire learned of Khatabah’s defeat, it began to gather many militia. They’ve already gathered a significant force and are preparing for a battle to the death!” Zhang Que reported on one knee, a look of slight concern on his face.
The superior strategy was to break the enemy’s schemes, while the inferior one was to break their soldiers. To this end, Zhang Que had planted spies in all the other countries, with significant numbers in even Arabia.
Though the Tang forces had yet to reach Khorasan, Zhang Que knew the movements within Arabia like the back of his hand.
The Arabian Empire’s militia were fierce and doughty. Everyone except the women and children was a soldier, and this was exactly why the Arabian Empire was able to reach its current status as the strongest empire in the west.
Although they were militia, they were still extremely formidable, and their rigorous training meant that they were only slightly weaker than regular Tang soldiers.
“Heh, militia, hm?”
Wang Chong sneered, his expression unperturbed.
The Arab militia had led Arabia to maintain a reputation as the ‘unconquerable country’, but that was only for other countries. In Wang Chong’s view, the most trained militia army was still just a motley crew that couldn’t withstand even a single blow.
“There’s no need to worry about them, so just let them be. What of that other matter I had you take care of?”
“Your Highness, everything is ready and waiting for your orders!”
Zhang Que bowed.
“Very good! Advance! It is now time for us to uproot our eternal foe of Arabia!”
Wang Chong looked toward the distance horizon, where the silhouette of a city loomed.
Khorasan!
In just another few dozen li, Wang Chong would finally be able to return to Khorasan.
After that would be the territory of the Arabian Empire. Twice in a row now, the Great Tang Empire had faced an unprecedented threat from this empire. If they did not completely vanquish this empire of the west, the Great Tang would never be free of its threats, and wars like this would continue to repeat themselves.
It was for this reason that Wang Chong had marched his army far from the homeland to pursue the defeated Arab army, breaking the military precept to not pursue a broken enemy.
“If we can really conquer this vast empire, it would be an unprecedented achievement, a dazzling mark on the annals of history!”
Gao Xianzhi rode up from the rear and looked in the same direction as Wang Chong.
Even though Gao Xianzhi had presided over the Western Regions as Anxi’s War God for many years, he had never once dared to think about conquering Arabia.
The Arabian Empire was far too powerful and possessed vast armies of cavalry. Even if Gao Xianzhi had deployed all his soldiers and brought all the kingdoms of the Western Regions with him, he would still have never been able to compete.
But now that Khatabah and the Arabian Empire’s army had been defeated, it was suddenly possible.
Wang Zhongsi also spoke up. “We have to eliminate Arabia no matter what. This is the only way to settle things once and for all. If we do this, we can bring peace to the Great Tang for decades, even a hundred years.”
It was a great taboo for the army to be so far from its native soil, and only Wang Chong could have realized it. Their army of six-hundred-thousand-some soldiers had defeated an army of two million, six hundred thousand cavalry. Who except Wang Chong was capable of this feat?
“Let’s go. Wang Chong, just point the way. None of us have any objections,” Zhangchou Jianqiong called out.
Wang Chong couldn’t help but laugh.
“Let’s go!”
The army slowly began to move, marching toward the distant Khorasan.
In Khorasan, the air was tense. Despite the alarming news, the empire had not given up. From the sky, one could see that soldiers were converging from all directions, summoned from Arabia’s various provinces. These were the Arab militia.